There's a Julian Sayin buzz over in Alabama Crimson Tide circles right now. AL.com's Joseph Goodman, one of the most polarizing columnists in Alabama and perhaps the entire SEC, was the one who ignited the flame.
Goodman controversially (to Alabama fans, anyway) claimed that Kalen DeBoer chose Austin Mack over Sayin, leading to the current conundrum under center, where redshirt freshman Keelon Russell is expected to win the job.
“We’re about to learn if choosing Mack over Sayin was a wise decision,” Goodman writes. “Is there still value in being loyal? I guess that’s the philosophical question chewing away at the heart of college football.”
Fans in the replies went scorched-earth on Goodman for saying that DeBoer could've had a choice to recruit Sayin but didn't. One X user even shared a quote from Sayin from that time that supposedly debunked that narrative.
“I came because of Coach Saban. We had a great relationship throughout the recruiting process. I love Coach Saban and I really wanted to play for him. The new staff that came in, we didn’t have a relationship prior to when I got there, so I just felt like it was the best decision for me to come out here," Sayin said.
Kalen DeBoer had a week to sway Julian Sayin to stay, but it didn't happen
There was a week between DeBoer taking the job in Tuscaloosa and Sayin officially transferring to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Maybe Sayin found out that there was no longer the same backup QB money with the Crimson Tide, but either way, if DeBoer really wanted to keep Sayin, he could've quickly established a relationship and promised him the future.
He didn't do that, instead seemingly focusing on Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, and Mack, the Washington Huskies transfer whom DeBoer brought over.
DeBoer, in many ways, chose many other QBs over Sayin. Luckily, he got instant karma for it. Sayin, by contrast, got a measure of revenge. Not that he was necessarily seeking it.
Sayin has had a better time at OSU than DeBoer has had at Alabama
Sayin "won the breakup," so to speak, over the past two years, though it's clear there was hardly a connection between the QB and DeBoer. So perhaps "breakup" is a bit of a strong classification.
DeBoer got first-round QB production from Milroe and Simpson, two other Nick Saban guys, in 2024 and 2025, but he got nothing more than a single CFP win in a single CFP appearance. Sayin, by contrast, won a national championship as Will Howard's backup and led OSU to an undefeated regular season record in 2025. Things didn't end well last December, but many expect the Buckeyes to be right back in the thick of things this fall.
If you were to ask any player if they'd rather be in Scarlet and Gray or Crimson right now, the answer would almost assuredly be the former. Sayin should continue to be in a better place in Columbus as DeBoer continues to struggle being the guy who followed "the guy" in Alabama.
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